The first thing you will want to consider is price. Like most electronics, there is a broad range of prices for car DVD players, depending on what you want them to do. You can buy an inexpensive model for $90, install it yourself, or you can go pricey in the $1500 range. Brand names simply flood the Internet. Do you need an expensive brand name to get a good car DVD player? There are good models that sell for under $100. However, you do not want to buy the lowest priced one simply because it is the cheapest. There are models in 4 basic styles: headrest, sun visor, in-dash, and flip down. Decide which style fits your needs. Familiarize yourself with the features in your price range to find the car DVD player that meets your needs. Almost all the newer DVD players are progressive scan, which will produce a good picture. Car DVD players are compared generally by their screen size and picture quality as well as video formats, audio formats and picture formats.

Decide whether you want to have the car DVD player installed in a shop by a professional or do it yourself. If you want a nice and neat monitor hanging from the headliner of your car with the cords hidden, you probably want to go with the professional car DVD player installation. This is a good looking, but costly option. If you don’t mind seeing the cords and you don’t mind seeing the band around your headrest, then go ahead and install the car DVD player yourself, it is really not that hard, and it plugs right into your 12 volt outlet.

Consider when choosing a car DVD player if your children are going to scream when the movie goes dead. In the non-battery models, this will happen at every gas stop and every soda break. Every time you kill the car engine, the movie will shut off and will not memorize the stopping point on the DVD. It just may be worth the extra cash to get the battery back-up model.

As the driver, do you want to hear movie audio only for the 8 hour trip to the Rocky Mountains? If not, you may want to think about headphones for the DVD viewers, and then relax with your own favorite CD.

You can find car DVD player models with extras that play music, videos and pictures. Others can play games and display calendars. Decide if these extras are something you want to pay for.

You can buy a Dolby Digital/DTS compatible DVD player (sometimes called an in-dash DVD player) and a surround-sound decoder. The most typical connection between the two components is called a digital optical cable, but be sure to check your individual pieces to make sure they are compatible. If by chance they are not, there is most likely an adapter that can be purchased to help make the connection work, but be sure to read your instructions before purchasing an adapter.

Once you have one of these car DVD players connected to the decoder by way of the optical cable, it is then possible to output the audio to the separate amps for the two front and rear speakers and the center speaker. It is then possible to bring the signal from the decoder to the receiver, which in turn allows you to use the DVD receiver to send an audio signal. Of course, if your DVD receiver has this capability, then there is no need for separate amplifiers. Typically, you will need a separate amplifier for your sub woofer. It is also possible for these speakers to be self-amplified. This is when the amplifier is built in to the sub woofer and buying a separate one is not necessary.

Another option is buying and installing a car DVD player and receiver that comes with surround sound capability. These mobile DVD players process digital signals internally, in turn rendering the need for external ones obsolete. This option will already give you all the necessary outputs your front, rear, and center speakers require. To complete the entire audio system, you will still need to purchase an amplified sub woofer or a sub woofer and amplifier separately.